


What Happens on a Zeppelin...

by leftennant



Series: Let's Make this Last Forever 'Verse [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Het, Het and Slash, M/M, Romance, Slash, Smuff, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-18
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-19 20:53:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1483537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leftennant/pseuds/leftennant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My take on what happens to Rose and Tentoo after they are left on the beach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, here's the reunion fic that follows Pajamas and Poison, The Most Brilliant Morning in History, The Best Kind of Distraction, and Llamas and Jail Cells and Shagging, Oh My! (yeah...that was a mouthful, yikes) Originally I was going to do a whole bunch of chapters before getting right to the smut...but then I was like...nope. I want smut now. So...yeah. Beta'd by Glo_Win.

He’s been in some tight spots before. He’s fought for his life, and her life…and done both at the same time. But this…this is more terrifying than anything he’s ever faced. Holding her hand on a freezing cold beach while the TARDIS dematerializes in front of their eyes, the Doctor realizes that he has no idea how to do this. How to make her love him. Again. 

The walk to the tiny hotel in the nearby fishing village isn’t far, but it feels interminable. Rose’s chilly fingers are clutched tightly in his hand, and for once, she’s the one with the lower temperature. He hopes she isn’t going into shock, but instinctively feels a medical workup on the side of the road in Norway from a reasonable facsimile of the man she wanted would be poorly received. Jackie marches along ahead of them, mobile pressed to her ear, mouth going a mile a minute as she arranges the zeppelin trip home with Pete. 

“I’m tellin’ you, if this is the _last_ time I ever see this bloody beach it’ll be too soon. What’s that, love?” She drops her voice an octave, but still not low enough. “Actually, they both are. He’s here with her. No, not that one…there’s two of ‘em now. Pete, how should I know? It’s always been a right mess where he’s concerned. He split somehow. Something about hands in jars and mecca crisises and… Yeah, I’ve got my eye on her. Well, she’s upright and walking, but that’s about it. What a day we’ve had. Daleks, and missing planets, and God knows what else. I tell you, this saving the world business is more trouble than it’s worth. When I get home I’m gettin’ straight in the bath and staying there a week.”

She continues, but the Doctor tunes her out. Instead he listens to the sound of gravel crunching under their feet, and the steady in and out breath coming from the pink and yellow girl beside him. A pink and yellow girl who hasn’t so much as looked at him since the final vworp of the TARDIS disappearing echoed across the sand and surf. He wonders if she hates him. It’s possible the kiss on the beach was merely payback for his Time Lord counterpart not saying the words she so desperately needed to hear. Once he considers that, he can’t stop the sickening doubt that swirls through him. If he has lost both Rose and his connection to the TARDIS… The Doctor wraps his free hand around the small lump of coral in his pocket and her tiny hum fills his mind. It helps, but not enough.

As Jackie and Rose check into the hotel, he putters around the tiny lounge, picking things up and putting them back down. He has no idea they are meant to share a room until they’re standing in front of a door and he realizes Rose only has one key. She pushes the door open and he follows her inside, stomach roiling with uncertainty. 

Finally she turns to face him and he’s not sure what she sees, but whatever it is, she looks away and runs her hand nervously through her hair before she speaks. “I just thought maybe you’d feel more comfortable in here. With me. I mean, I can get you your own room. That’s fine. It’s just…I’ll go. I’ll go and do that.”

She starts to leave the room and he makes a grab for her hand, threading his fingers through hers before she can go another step. “No. You’re right. I would be more comfortable with you. The truth is, Rose…” He clears his throat. “I’m afraid to let you out of my sight. So, yeah. I’ll stay then, as long as that’s alright with you. Is it?”

“Of ‘course it is. I’m feeling a bit the same way. I can’t quite believe you’re real. You _are_ real, yeah?”

“Oh Rose Tyler, I am _very_ real. And I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

The Doctor sees her nod and bite her lip and then before he can say anything else, she launches herself at him. He has one second to get his arms up and she’s grinding him against the wall, lips crushed on his, and hands trying to pull his t-shirt free of his trousers. Rassilon, how he missed this! The scent of her skin and hair…the feel of her eager little tongue slipping over his. It has been years of dreaming and wanting and longing for her. He’s already got the beginnings of an erection. This new half-human body is even more responsive than the last one, and he files that bit of knowledge away for future reference. Rose has her fingers wrapped around his zip and he flips them so she’s the one against the wall and that’s when he sees her face…really sees it. The look in her eyes stops him cold

It’s not the look of a woman lost in passion and love. It’s all fear and heartbreak and more than just a tinge of fury. He wants her, so very badly, but not like this. He is not going to be an anger fuck so she can alleviate her feelings of betrayal at the hands of the other him. This is all wrong. Wrong timing, wrong reasons, wrong everything, and he’s got to stop it before there’s no going back. They can’t build on this. She pulls his face back to hers with a hand behind his neck and he fights to gentle the kiss, and slow it down. Rose senses his reluctance and pulls back, panting. Both hands drop to her sides and they regard each other. Hair mussed and clothing disheveled. 

“What’s wrong?” she asks in an irritated voice, gesturing to the space between them.

“I’m sorry…I just think… Rose, are you really ready for this? Right now? What happened on the beach, you haven’t even had time to process anything. I know I haven’t.”

“You don’t want me,” she replies flatly.

He takes her hand and places it over the erection straining against the fabric of his trousers. “I always want you," he says simply. "But I don’t think you want me. This me. Not yet. And if we do this right now while you’re still furious with him, I think it could spoil everything we could have. I need you to want me. Not because I sound like him, or look like him, or think like him. But because I _am_ him. I’m the man that loves you. Has loved you. I’m him. It’s me, Rose. And I’m not about to lose you because we do this too soon.”

She snatches her hand back like he burned it. “You’re not him. He sent me away.”

“I know. But he’s right here, too. I’m _here_ , Rose.”

She ignores his words. “He did it again! He left me on that Godforsaken beach without a goodbye for the second time! What did I do wrong?” The anguish in her voice cuts through him like a razorblade.

“Nothing. Oh Rose, you’ve never done anything wrong. Not in my eyes.”

“He left you too. Because you killed the Daleks. Well, _I_ killed the Daleks. Has he forgotten that? For that matter, _he_ killed them. How are we any different from him?” Rose is right up in his face, panting in fury, arms splayed wide.

“We’re not.”

“Then what was he doing? Trying to soften the blow? Make it ok to drop you off in some parallel universe with me playing nursemaid?” She’s pacing back and forth now, worrying the cuffs of her jacket between her fingers.

The Doctor remains silent. How can he even explain when he’s still incensed himself? She deserved her answer, and if the Time Lord was planning to leave her, she sure as hell deserved an explanation and a goodbye. He is beginning to believe he has Donna to thank for his courage, because clearly the man in the TARDIS is as cowardly as ever. 

Donna…best not even think about that. He has a fairly good idea of what will happen to her, and he also knows that the she isn’t going to get a choice. Whatever the Time Lord thinks is best, he’s going to do. Perhaps letting people choose their own path is going to be the trait of this version of him that sets them apart. It’s an interesting thought, but not one he’s going to pursue while Rose is still walking the room in front of him.

She abruptly stops and scrubs both hands over her face. “M’sorry. It’s not your fault. You don’t deserve me getting all stroppy with you when he’s the one who abandoned me.”

“No, it’s alright. I deserve it as much as he does.”

She shakes her head violently in protest. “But you don’t. You never left me. You _stayed_ , and you said…well you know. You said what I needed to hear when he wouldn’t.”

“Rose,” he says quietly, “I’m the same man who tricked you into the TARDIS and initiated the program to take you home from the Game Station, and left you alone on a space ship while I danced with half the French court. I sent you away at Canary Wharf and then in my arrogance, when you came back, I didn’t properly secure you to the magna-clamp before opening the void. And I’m also the same man who purposefully let time run out on Bad Wolf Bay before I could tell you I loved you.”

She gapes at him. “You did that on purpose? I thought the connection ended!”

“I’m a Time Lord, do you really think I didn’t keep track of every single second that passed? That I wasn’t aware of the smallest iota of time I had left talking to the girl I loved more than anything in two universes? I knew, Rose. I knew our time was running out and I let it escape me.”

She covers her mouth with one hand, moisture starting to gather in her eyes. “I can’t believe you did that,” she whispers. “I needed to hear it. I gave you EVERYTHING. My whole heart…and you…”

“I know, and I am so, so sorry. I’m sorry for all of it. Every single time I could have told you and I didn’t. Every moment I spent being a coward. That’s not going to happen again. You can send me away and I’ll still say it. I love you, Rose Tyler. I’ve loved you since you took my hand in Henrik’s.” He takes a step towards her, but she holds up a hand to ward him off.

“I need a minute. I think…I’m just going to go use the loo. Please. Stay here. I won’t be long.”

He nods in reply and she crosses the room, shutting the door behind her. Within minutes, he can hear the sound of the shower running and he collapses into a chair near the window, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. This is not going as well as he hoped. Before he can start to wallow, he hears a sharp rap on the door and opens it to find Jackie standing on the other side. She motions him out into the hall, and he obeys, careful not to fully shut the door behind him.

“How is she?” Jackie asks, concern etched on her face.

He blows a puff of air out through his lips and ruffles his hair in aggravation before answering. “She’s…well…she’s in the loo. Showering.” He catches Jackie’s eye. “Not because of erm, anything we did. We didn’t. Do anything, that is. She just wanted a shower,” he hurriedly amends. 

“Of course I know you weren’t getting up to anything, ya plum,” she snorts. “You’ve only been in there ten minutes. If something were going on, you’d hardly be answering the door fully dressed two seconds after I knocked. Even you couldn’t be that fast…although if you are…Lord have mercy on Rose because she’s stuck with you.”

“Jackie, I assure you, there’s nothing…ah…fast…about…” The Doctor snaps his jaw shut before this can get any worse. No matter what kind of day he’s just had, he’s certainly not going to be discussing _that_ with Jackie Tyler. He clears his throat. “Nevermind. What do you want, exactly?”

“I came to bring you this,” she says and holds up a room key in front of his face. “I know Rose had some crazy idea about the two of you sharing a room, but you look like hell, and I’m guessing things aren’t all sunshine and roses right now. Been fighting?”

He sighs wearily. “Jackie, I don’t think that’s any of your…”

“Right,” she interrupts. “That’s what I thought. So, here. Take it. It’s for the adjoining room.” She presses the key into his hand. “Ten quid says she walks out of the loo and suggests it anyway.”

He takes the key and turns to go back in the room. Jackie stops him with a gentle hand on his arm. 

“Listen, she’s gonna come ‘round. I know my Rose. Bein’ separated from you nearly killed her, but she pulled herself together and focused everything she had on finding you again. She loves you. Whichever you, you are. She’ll remember that. Give her time,” she says kindly.

He opens his mouth to thank her, but that isn’t what comes out. Instead, and to his extreme disbelief, the Doctor finds himself confiding in her. “I hope you’re right, because I’m not sure what I’m going to do if she doesn’t. She’s all I’ve got.”

“Don’t you worry, it’ll work out. And I’ll give you a bit of advice. Our Rose has got a temper on her. She might be mad awhile. The grieving process is a funny thing, and it’s twice now she’s had to say goodbye to him on that beach. Stick it out. Whatever she says, whatever she does, you stick it out. Because he didn’t. And that might make all the difference. Now, love, you get in there. I’m five minutes from passing out myself, and I don’t plan having a kip in the hall.” She gives his shoulder a little push, and stifles a yawn with her hand as she clomps back down the corridor. 

As he steps back inside the room, he can hear the shower shutting off. A few minutes later Rose emerges, wearing a hotel dressing gown. It’s drawn close around her waist and tightly knotted and he can’t help but think it looks like an armor of sorts. Rose is gearing up for battle. It’s a good thing he didn’t take that bet with Jackie, he’d owe her ten quid.

“I wasn’t thinking,” she says, fidgeting a bit in the doorway. “I haven’t got a change of clothes and… Well, the truth is, I wasn’t planning on us needing any. Not tonight anyway. I don’t really want to put the dirty ones back on so…” She trails off.

“Your mum just brought me a key for the adjoining room. I could sleep in there, if you want. Give you a bit of privacy. I’ll leave the door unlocked between the rooms, or open even. Whatever you want.” He shrugs, trying to act noncommittal. 

“That sounds good. Open, please. For the door I mean.” Rose gives him the first smile he’s seen since they’ve gotten off the TARDIS. It’s small and weak, but it’s still something and he returns it gratefully.

“So…I’ll just go do that then. Well…I think I’ll shower first too. I mean, all that smoke and ash on the Dalek ship is probably wreaking havoc with my hair.”

“We can’t have that, can we? Not your _hair_.” she teases and her smile grows larger.

“Oi! Rose Tyler, I’ve only got this one head of hair now. I’ve got to take care of it. What would you do with a bald half-human Time Lord?”

“Perish the thought.” Full on grin now, almost the one with the tongue poking out. He would thank whatever deity is responsible, if he believed in that sort of thing. 

“I’ll see you in about twenty minutes then,” he says.

“Not if I see you first,” she replies and he freezes. This is more than reminiscent of a conversation they had the morning after…well… _THE_ morning after. He looks at Rose to see if she recognizes it too, and there she is, watching him almost shyly. Smile still intact. 

He thrusts both hands into his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “You are in danger of being kissed. And I’m afraid that if I did that things might rapidly escalate. So…”

“So, you need to go, yeah? S’ok. Raincheck?”

“You’d better believe it. I intend to collect on it, too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Doctor?”

“Hm?” He was still standing there, key dangling from his fingers. 

“The door’s behind you.”

“Right. I’ll just be going then.” And before he can get himself into any further trouble, he escapes to his room.

***5 Hours Later***

The part-human Doctor is standing on the sand watching the TARDIS doors close behind Rose and the Time Lord that shares his face. He’s calling to her, begging her to come back, to take him with her, but she doesn’t even turn around. The doors close and she disappears before his eyes. It’s like Canary Wharf but worse, because this time she chose to leave. Then he hears her voice, faintly drifting on the wind… _Doctor_ , _Doctor_. The voice is getting louder, more insistent, and then…

“DOCTOR! Hey! Wake up! You’re having a nightmare.” Arms are shaking him awake, and he sits up with a start, locking eyes with the girl he just dreamt he lost forever.

“Rose. You’re here. Right here. I thought…but you didn’t. You’re here.” He takes her face in his hands and drinks it in before pressing his forehead to hers. “I’ve had so many dreams about you, and in all of them you were walking away. Every time. It got so I didn’t want to sleep at all.”

Rose’s face softens. “I’m not walking anywhere, yeah? Not right now, anyway. M’too tired.” She slides a knee up on the bed next to him so she’s half kneeling on it and bumps him with her hip. “Budge up.”

Her dressing gown is revealing quite a lot of very lovely leg and his eyes go wide. “Erm, I don’t think…I mean… I’m not exactly dressed. At all. And when I say at all, what I mean is AT ALL.”

“And what? You afraid I’m gonna take advantage of your new, new, new virgin self? Budge. Up.” She gives him another, more insistent nudge. 

He scoots over obligingly, holding a pillow on his lap over the blankets. It isn’t that she hasn’t seen him naked. She has, often. And aren’t those just the best memories ever? Although…perhaps not the ones he should be having while he’s trying to behave himself. That is the point after all. Behaving himself, he decides, is a serious undertaking. Especially since he no longer seems to have the ability to control certain aspects of his body through sheer will alone.

Rose wriggles around a bit and shifts on the pillows until finally she curls against him with a little sigh.

“What are you doing?” he asks in a loud stage whisper, hands clenched around the pillow on his thighs.

“Whatsit look like?” she mumbles. “M’going to sleep.” 

“But I thought we decided…”

“D’you have any idea how noisy you’ve been? I’ve been up half the night just listening to you thrash around and talk in your sleep. I’m hoping maybe if I’m here you’ll settle down. Or at least if you don’t, I’m close enough to smother you with a pillow.”

“Oh.” He leans over so his lips are just above the bit of ear exposed by the duvet. “Are you sure?”

“Remember when I said I’d smother you with the pillow if you didn’t shut up? I wasn’t kidding. Go to sleep.”

“Right,” he acquiesces, and slides back down into bed, trying not to notice the way soft terry fabric of her dressing gown feels rubbing along his naked thigh…and naked hip…and now his naked arm. He’s never felt so entirely naked in his whole life. Even naked in front of Donna wasn’t this naked. This is the nakedest naked of all time and the Doctor can only hope he survives until morning without spontaneously combusting, or worse, trying to have sex with Rose in his sleep. Is that even possible? He worries that it is. Maybe he should just roll over…but then he’d either be bumping against her with his unclothed arse or…well…best not to think about what else might be bumping her if he turns the other way. Thank Rassilon for this very sturdy pillow. He’ll just lay on his back and hold onto the pillow and everything will be fine.


	2. Prologue Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the smut part one...and really...smut on a zeppelin... :D I'd say more, but really...does it need saying? (OH, see what I just did there? HAH!) I don't own Doctor Who, Hutzler Banana Slicers of any model, or Thermal Detonators. (if I did own a thermal detonator, we'd have our Rose and Tentoo spin-off already)

The next morning he wakes up confused, disoriented, and alone. The pillow is still clutched tight in his arms and the sheet is wound around him almost to the point where he can’t move his legs. It takes him a minute or so to detangle and in that time he recalls where he is and how he came to be there. 

He can hear the sound of clinking china coming from the open door to the other room. Which means Rose is up, and if his nose isn’t lying, she’s having tea. Tea sounds brilliant. He reaches blindly behind him to the nightstand to grab his things, but his hand comes back empty. A second reach results in the same thing. No suit. Finally he turns to find the nightstand empty and a small pile of clothes on the foot of the bed. Refusing to touch them, he wraps the sheet around his waist and walks over to peer through the adjoining door.

“Rose, do you know where my clothes are?” he asks, noting she’s fully dressed in a fresh vest and jeans.

Rose sets her cup down on the saucer and turns a page of her newspaper without looking up. “My mum sent them to be cleaned early this morning. Mine too.”

His jaw drops. “But she _can’t_! I had things! In the pockets! Important things…important things that should not be pressed or washed or steamed…or touched really. You have no idea how serious this could be. Please tell me Jackie isn’t touching the things in my pockets.”

“Relax. I remembered what a magpie you are and emptied your suit before I handed it over.” She waves at the bed, which is full of bits and pieces of this and that, and then looks at him over the rim of her teacup. 

“You went in my pockets?” he squeaks. “Rose, that isn’t safe! Some of the things in there are very dangerous and volatile…and…”

“Are you referring to the yoyo, or the Hutzler 571 banana slicer? And really, did that _need_ to be made sonic? Speaking of sonics, I found that too. Stealing now, are we?”

He draws himself up with as much dignity as a man wearing a sheet sarong can, and says in an offended tone, “I didn’t _steal_ it. I keep a spare one in each suit. And, anyway, it’s as much mine as it is his. He doesn’t get the TARDIS _and_ all the sonic screwdrivers too. Honestly, accusing me of stealing one of my own screwdrivers, really Rose.”

“My mistake,” she replies and goes back to her paper.

He is struck with a sudden, awful thought. “Rose, there was a thermal detonator in my pockets.”

“You mean that?” She points to the myriad of tiny electronic components strewn across the tv console. “I disarmed it. You know, you really should have gotten some royalty money from George Lucas. He used half the stuff you told him in those movies of his.”

“Two thirds, but who’s counting? Do they even have his movies in this universe?”

“No, sadly. I looked him up once, just out of curiosity, and it turns out he’s an accountant in Phoenix, Arizona and runs the local RPG club. D’you want tea?”

“Oh yes, please, thank…wait.” His eyes narrowed. “How did you learn to disarm a thermal detonator? And don’t try to sidetrack me with more George Lucas trivia. I’m on to you.”

She sits back and stretches her legs under the table. “I’m a Torchwood operative. Disarming alien tech is sort of what I do. Or did. When I wasn’t working on the dimension cannon, that is.”

And there it is. The fantastic life Rose was leading before she found her way back to him. He imagines her putting her life in danger with every dimension hop, and feels sick. They’ve changed her. That much is apparent. She’s not the same girl he lost at Canary Wharf. The very fact that she can sit here, calmly discussing the contents of his pockets one day after the aftermath of the events on the Crucible, proves it. He sits down heavily on the edge of the bed.

Rose pours him a cup of tea and he studies her face. It’s thinner, cheeks not at rounded as he remembered, angular bones more prominent. Hair still blonde, but the cut is more mature, and her eyes are years older than he can ever recall them being before. She looks like a woman who has struggled, and fought, and grieved. It cuts him to the quick that he did this to her. He promised to keep her safe, and look what happened. 

She sets her cup down on the saucer and turns to face his scrutiny. “You’re quiet.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For being quiet?” She tilts her head, biting her lip uncertainly. It’s the first sign of her being unsettled he’s seen all morning.

“Not for being quiet. I’m just…sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. That I didn’t know you were looking for me. And that I had stopped looking for cracks between the universes. I’d given up. For such a long time I searched just to find one, and then around the time Donna started traveling with me, I gave up. Instead of fighting my way to get to you, I fought to get past losing you instead.”

“Doctor, that’s ok, you needed to…” she begins, but he cuts her off.

“No. There’s nothing ok about it. You deserved better, Rose. It turned out you were so, so much stronger than me. When I saw you running up that street, everything I’d ever done and been narrowed down to you and me and the fact that you’d found me again. And that was all _you_. I said it was impossible, and you refused to believe me. Now I’m here and I can hardly believe it, but at what cost?” He shakes his head sadly. “What have I done to you?”

Rose stands up and plants herself between his knees. “You really know how to flatter girl, yeah? Staring at me for a full five minutes and then deciding whatever you saw means you owe me an apology. I’m beginning to think it _must_ be you, because only _my Doctor_ would muck up our first morning together on such a spectacular level. Now,” she says, abruptly changing the subject, “are you planning to wear that sheet all day, or are you gonna get dressed? Mum bought us some clothes and I set yours out on your bed.”

“It’s hardly our first morning together,” he replies, ignoring the suggestion that he put on something that isn’t his suit. “Our first morning together was the day after that trampoline with a face tried to kill us. Although…did you mean first morning in general or the first morning we woke up together? Because I’d say of the two, the latter was quite a bit more memorable.”

“As I recall,” Rose says with a smile, tugging on the fabric swathed around his hips, “ _I_ was the one in the sheet.”

“And as I recall, I was the one trying to remove it,” he counters.

Rose licks her lips. “Yeah, I remember that. You know, you’re gonna sabotage this whole going slow thing if you keep flirting with me.”

“Am I?” He reaches out and hooks his fingers into the belt loops of her jeans, pulling her a bit closer. “Weeeeell, maybe I need to rethink…” They jump apart as a loud knocking on the door cuts him off mid-sentence. 

“Oi you two! Rise and shine. The zeppelin’ll be here in ten minutes and both of you are gonna be on it if I have to haul you on myself.” Jackie’s muffled voice assails them from the hall. “Don’t make me regret getting ya adjoining rooms!”

“Coming, mum!” Rose yells back. The moment is lost, and the Doctor stands up, rumpling his hair on top. Rose takes a step back to let him slip by her. “I put a toiletries bag in the bathroom for you. S’got a toothbrush and shaving kit if you need it.” 

“Thanks, maybe we can continue this erm, discussion later. Or not. You know…whatever you want,” he finishes hurriedly. “I don’t want you to feel pressured…or…” He stops, recognizing that one very precious thing is missing from the array of things spread across the bed. 

Rose sees his expression, plucks the piece of TARDIS coral out from behind the teapot, and holds it out to him with a smile. “This what you’re looking for?”

“Thanks,” he replies gratefully, taking it from her. “It’s just…when I hold it, I can hear her. She’s quiet, but she’s still there.”

“I missed her too,” Rose says softly, stroking one finger across the bumpy surface of the coral. “Couldn’t sleep well for months here because I’d grown so used to the sound of her. Being back on the TARDIS, standing at the controls…it was like coming home.”

He stops and looks at her, eyes dark and fathomless. “That’s what being with you is like for me, Rose Tyler. Coming home. I missed you…oh, so much. There wasn’t a single moment I didn’t miss you.” He tugs on his ear. “Weeell, maybe once, when I was running from the Vashta Nerada, but really…you try thinking of anything else when you’re being chased by a skeleton in a spacesuit with a woman you’ve never met who claims to be your wife…”

“Your WHAT?! No. Don’t.” She waves her hands in the air to stop his explanation. “I don’t wanna know. At least, not right now. Get dressed. We’ll have time on the zeppelin…or maybe never. I’m not sure if this is a story I need to hear. Just…yeah. Off you go.” Rose shakes her head.

“Going, going…meet you downstairs, then?” he says, grabbing the sonic off the bed on his way out of the room.

“I’ll be in the lobby. Don’t take too long or my mum’ll be up here and dragging you down even if you’re just in your pants.” Rose laughs as he shudders at the mental image of Jackie Tyler seeing him in his underwear.

Back in his room, The Doctor inspects the clothing she left for him to wear. She can’t be serious. Blue boxer briefs…fine…but jeans? And…what is that? A sweatshirt with a hood…and some sort of vest with the name of the town printed across the front. He’s never missed his suit more. The jeans are slightly too big and the sweatshirt feels incredibly bulky to a man used to tailored suit jackets and oxfords, but he makes the best of it and pulls on his trainers. At least they left him _those_. He skips shaving and brushes his teeth, feeling a bit perturbed that this human body can’t regulate bacteria like the full Time Lord body could. One heart, unruly erections, and morning breath. Fantastic. 

After a quick trip to the other room where he sees Rose has already gathered up everything from his pockets and vacated the premises, he heads downstairs. She’s standing there talking to Jackie and a man he assumes is part of the zeppelin crew. He wiggles his fingers in a tiny wave and her eyes go wide at his appearance. Her mouth starts to twitch and he’s welcomed with the patented Rose Tyler grin, huge and brilliant with her tongue caught between her teeth. He grins back, rolling his eyes and tugging on the front of the sweatshirt to indicate that yes, fine, he’ll wear this…but he won’t _like_ it.

She gives him a bag with the contents of his suit pockets stowed inside, and then takes his hand and leads him onto the zeppelin. It’s nearly silent aside from a low rumble of the engines and the heating system blowers. Jackie parks herself up front near the pilots’ cabin and Rose tugs him into the furthest row back, flipping up the armrest between two seats before pushing him into one and collapsing into the other one. 

“God, I never thought I’d be on another one of these,” she says while buckling the lap belt and indicating he should do the same. “Get yours. Jackson says there’s a decent breeze, so takeoff might be rough.”

He resists the urge to apologize again for trapping her back in the world she doesn’t belong to, and snaps his seatbelt closed instead. There’s a loud whirring of the propellers and he rests his hands on the front pocket of his hoodie, where the TARDIS coral and sonic screwdriver are concealed, as they take off. 

Rose is quiet, looking out her porthole window at the passing scenery on the ground. The Doctor, feeling twitchy, thumps his trainers on the carpet, picks up the magazine stuffed into the pocket of the seat in front of him, puts it back, and finally starts tapping out a drumbeat on his thighs with his fingertips. Rose swivels in her seat and watches for a moment before reaching over and pulling both his hands into her lap. She holds them loosely, rubbing her thumbs over the bones of his wrists in soothing circles. The sensation is mesmerizing. He feels his tension melting away under her touch. 

She traces down the length of his slender fingers with a face full of wonder. "This still your fighting hand?"

The Doctor curls his fingers through hers, turning their hands over so his is on top. "It's the reason I'm here. This hand is a survivor."

"Like us, then."

"Just like us." He lifts the hand in question up to cup her face.

“Rose, do you think…would you mind…” He swallows hard, and clears his throat. “What I mean to say is, that raincheck we discussed last night, do you suppose maybe I could…collect?”

She takes in his flushed face and endearingly nervous stammer before running the fingers of her free hand through the hair behind his left ear and trailing them to the back his neck so she can pull him closer. His eyes drop closed and then open again pleadingly on hers. 

“Yeah, I think I’d like that," she replies in a husky voice.

“Oh, good. I wasn't sure what I'd do if you said no,” he murmurs and tilts his head so he can brush his lips over hers. The touch is feather-light, questing, and tentative. It’s a far cry from the hungry snog on the beach. The frantic, rushed feeling is gone. This is just him and Rose, with no broken hearted Time Lord standing by, refusing to tell her he loves her. No one is winning or losing here. No points are being driven home, or gauntlets being thrown down. This Doctor has nothing but time, and he intends to take all of it that he needs. 

He remembers everything that makes her tick, each infinitesimal movement, the slow, gentle pull of her bottom lip in his teeth, and the way to cradle her head in his hands. Her tongue slips out, runs across his and then retreats and he deepens the kiss as he chases it back into her mouth. She moans, just a small shuddering exhalation of breath and he can feel every atom in his body stand up and take notice. Some atoms, he notices, are standing up more than others. Didn’t he think these trousers were too loose? That’s certainly no longer the case, and he tries to surreptitiously adjust his position in the seat. 

Rose breaks the kiss and pulls back. Her eyes are heavy-lidded and cloudy with desire, and her lips are still parted. She glances quickly at the front of the zeppelin where Jackie is still sitting with her back to them, seemingly oblivious, before throwing a leg over his and pulling herself straight into his lap. The change in position ratchets up the intensity of his already unstable hormones and they go swirling furiously through his body straight down to the (almost nearly) lowest point. 

“Rose…” he growls, and even to his ears it’s contradictory, like a warning wrapped in surrender.

Without giving him a chance to say anything else, she brings her lips to his again. This time it’s reminiscent of the kind of kissing where they didn’t even make it back to the TARDIS because the urge to have each other was too strong. All those alleys and dark corners on other planets and times when fumbling fingers led to desperate thrusting with her legs wrapped tight around his waist and her back against a wall. It seems Rose remembers too, and she grinds down against him where he’s already so hard and ready for her. 

“Fuck,” she says, “you feel so good. God, I missed that. The feel of you. Do you have any idea how many nights I thought of you and how you felt inside me? I would dream of it, and wake up wet for you and you weren’t there. It was just me, alone, in the coldest fucking bed on earth.”

And with that, he’s lost. Totally undone. Every single bloody ounce of air has disappeared from the cabin and he’s trying to start a respiratory bypass that no longer exists. She’s not the only one who spent nights remembering _this_ and he’s still got the Time Lord ability to recall each time with pristine clarity. The urge to strip Rose’s clothes off and take her on the seat _in front of her MUM_ is warring with the need to keep his shredded control intact so Jackie doesn’t pitch him straight out into open sky when she finds him shagging her daughter. 

“Your mum…” he manages to get out before she grinds down again and his words are lost in a groan.

“Isn’t looking,” she counters, skirting under the hem of his sweatshirt and vest in the back to scratch her nails against his bare skin. His muscles tense and ripple under her fingers.

“We’re trying to take it slow…aren’t we? We’re…we are doing that, yes?”

“Thought you were rethinking it,” she purrs into his ear before nipping his earlobe.

The Doctor knows there’s a reason, a very good reason in fact, to bring this back to a sensible level, but most of his brain has taken an unpaid hiatus and it’s like digging through mud trying to find it. His remaining thoughts are filled with want, and need, and _YES_ and it’s so fucking difficult to come up with anything else. 

She flips the button on his trousers and pulls down the zip before gracefully sliding off him and onto the floor between his knees. “Can you keep quiet?” she asks with one eyebrow raised. 

“I can try,” he gasps as she reaches into his pants and frees him. 

“You’ll have to do better than try, because if my mum catches us, we’re both dead,” she replies, taking a long lick from base to tip.

“Fuck…” he whispers. “Rose, I don’t know…this…you…you don’t have to do this.”

She envelops the head for a moment before releasing him with a nearly inaudible pop. “Do you want it?”

“Are. You. Kidding? God, fuck…just…just like that. That is…fuck, Rose!” He’s practically mouthing the words in a desperate attempt to keep still.

“Still like the same things then?” she says smugly.

“Same man…I’m still the same…aahhh.” He clamps his mouth shut just in time and ends up rolling his head against the seat back in an effort to keep from crying out as she commences sucking him in earnest.

His hips have begun to rock and he’s fighting the urge to thrust into her mouth with every ounce of his being. She’s just so warm and wet, and her tongue is sliding over him in a delicious rough drag with every bob of her head. Rose wraps one hand around him, moving it in tandem with her mouth, and uses the other to press him back against the seat so she can maintain control. 

The Doctor takes a strangled breath and shoots a brief look at Jackie. Still turned away, still oblivious. He thanks Rassilon’s domestic carpets and doors for small favors because any second now he’s going to come in Rose’s mouth at 200 meters in the air, while her mum sits fifteen rows away. 

There’s not a single thought in his head anymore regarding right or appropriate or why they needed to go slow. Rose is clearly not going slow and that’s in the most literal sense possible as she increases her speed and fights to bring him off before they can get caught. She hardly needs to worry. This new body is so untested and responsive that he’s been killing himself trying to stave off the inevitable for a few minutes already, just trying to enjoy the sensation of having her lips around him again. 

Then it happens, with a clenching of his abdomen and teeth, he spasms into her mouth and she swallows him down. Every nerve ending he has is on fire and burning outwards in sweeping waves of pleasure. There’s a rushing in his ears like a train, and he wonders if he might just pass out in the middle of the whole bloody thing, but he doesn’t. Human orgasms are brilliant. More than brilliant. Is this what Rose has felt every single time? Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck that is amazing! If this is the trade-off for some of his Time Lord tricks, he'll take it.

She keeps her mouth on him as his hips slow to a stop, just guiding him back down with slow, deliberate motions. Then she cleans him up, using a napkin that she pulled from the little holder on the foldaway tray table and carefully tucks him back in his trousers before redoing his button and zip. 

When she settles back into her seat, he twists to reach for her, pulling her to face his and starting to slide one hand up the inside of her thigh, but she stops him.

“I think we’ve risked enough, yeah?”

He shakes his head in frustration. “But I want…”

“Yeah, me too. Believe me. But she won’t ignore us forever, and I just spent almost four years trying to get back to you. I’d like to keep you in one piece.” 

“Where was that logic ten minutes ago?” the Doctor inquires with a grin, but in the back of his head he can’t help feeling giddy over the fact that she just said _HE’S_ the man she was trying to get back to.

“Are you complaining? Because I don’t remember hearing you protest much when my mouth was on you.” Rose pokes him in the ribs and he curls reflexively. Apparently, she still remembers where he is ticklish along with what turns him on.

“So…if you won’t let me…” He makes an incredibly suggestive gesture that leaves Rose looking equal parts shocked, amused, and deeply interested. “...then what do you want to do?”

“Well, the truth is, someone kept me up half the night. I was thinking of having a kip.” And, as if to emphasize her point, she breaks into a massive yawn that is only partly contained by her hand over her mouth.

“Ah, I see.” He realizes she’s not the only one who needs a bit of sleep. Nightmares and Rose in a dressing gown a hair’s breadth from his naked body didn’t make for a restful night. “I think maybe I might try that too.”

“All parties in agreement then,” she says and snuggles up against his chest.

There’s a beat where he holds his position, and then muscle memory kicks in as he lifts his arm and drapes it around her shoulders. It’s like every other time he ever held Rose and also like something entirely new at the same time. The scent of her hair and the feel of her warm body pressed close to his have a calming effect on him that he hasn’t felt since Canary Wharf. He drops his chin on the top of her head and closes his eyes, arms filled with pink and yellow, and contented relief. Whatever happens when they wake can wait. Right now he can finally drop his guard and sleep.


	3. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, the start of life in Pete's World. After several back and forth discussions with Glo_Win, we decided that the prologue should be present tense and the rest of the story past tense. So, yep...the change in tense was on purpose. Also, I have this well...let's call it a plan. I'm not going to say what it is yet, but for it to work, the Doctors need to be able to communicate. ;)

It had been a week since they were left in Pete’s world and Rose hadn’t so much as mentioned the zeppelin incident. The Doctor assumed once they were no longer in direct view of Jackie he’d be allowed to repay the favor, but it seemed Rose had decided his idea of taking things slow was the best course of action as well. She’d let her flat before her last dimension cannon jump, not intending to return, and was in the process of sorting things with the tenant so she and the Doctor could move there. Until then, he was stuck in the room adjacent to her parents. Even if Rose had initiated taking things further, his living situation was hardly conducive to resuming a physical relationship, which was probably exactly what Jackie intended when she assigned him the room. 

He was still having frequent nightmares and Rose had been sneaking into his room at night to help keep them at bay. She’d slip in after everyone else had gone to sleep and then leave before dawn so no one noticed they had been sharing a bed. Having her close enough to touch did seem to alleviate his trouble sleeping, but knowing her parents were right next door was an effective damper on taking things further. He would lie there, curled around her, hips angled slightly away in a desperate bid to keep her from noticing his drop-of-a-hat arousal. The situation was less than perfect, but he’d take that over not having Rose any day.

It was on his third day in the alternate universe that he found he still had a mental connection to the Time Lord. It all came about by complete accident. He was sitting alone in his room turning the TARDIS coral around in his hands when noticed the small tug of another mind coming across the void. He was so surprised he dropped the piece of coral and the connection abruptly disappeared. Gingerly, he picked it back up and as she hummed again in his mind, he felt the connection resume. 

Clearly, the twin TARDISes were facilitating the link, but how his tiny bit of untested coral was able to maintain it was beyond him. He probed gently at the newfound telepathic connection and met with an immediate fierce clamping down from the other end. So that’s how it was, was it? A slightly more forceful push caused a wave of disapproval to wash down the line. He gave it all he had, tuning out everything in the room and concentrating all his energy on the link. 

_Stop!_ The word thundered across the void into his head from his Time Lord twin. 

“Sorry, mate, but I don’t think I will,” he replied aloud.

_I’m in the middle of something. We can deal with this another time._

The part-human Doctor snorted. “Yeah, you think I can’t tell when you’re lying? We’re the _same_ man.”

What sounded like an annoyed sigh drifted through the link. _Fine. What do you want?_

“Well, this is a bit unprecedented. I mean, aren’t you even the slightest bit curious about how we can do this? Don’t you want to know how we are over here? What about how _she_ is?

Radio silence. Then a feeling of overwhelming longing came flooding through. _No._

“You can’t be serious. I’d have to know. It would drive me spare.”

_I’m not you._

“Again with the lies. And frankly, that’s a bloody stupid one. I remember missing her. We almost went mad.”

Another pause from the other end, and he could practically feel the Time Lord Doctor ruffling through his hair distractedly. _It’s not that I don’t want… It’s that I DO want. Too much. And I can’t. I just…can’t. Try to look at it from my angle. She’s with YOU. Well, me, because as you just pointed out, you’re still me. So she has me, and I still can’t touch her. It was bad enough watching the two of you…snogging. Now I have to imagine other things, which is quite painful considering I remember exactly what the other things were like. Are you? Doing other things, that is? No. Don’t answer that._

He ignored the reference to other things in favor of pointing out how none of this was his fault. “It didn’t have to be like this. You could have taken both of us with you. This is _your_ mess.”

_And you didn’t say this on the beach because?_

“I don’t recall being given an option. Instead, I stood there and listened to you explaining to Rose why you needed to leave her with someone who was too dangerous to have in the other universe. You realize that makes no sense, right? She’s going to come to that conclusion sometime as well. What sort of git would leave the love of his life with a person he deemed too unsafe to have around? Who better to babysit me than you? You, who are able to understand and predict my motivations like no one else. Rose isn’t stupid. That’s going to occur to her if it hasn’t already. Besides, say I had suggested we all stay together, would you have said yes?”

 _What would have been the point of that? All three of us on the TARDIS? Both of us in love with Rose? What would we have done, set up a rotating bedroom schedule?_

“Who says we would have needed separate beds?” 

_I’m not dignifying that with an answer,_ was the rapid-fire reply.

The Doctor in the parallel universe rolled his eyes. “Two words, Jack Harkness. And we both know that wasn’t just a fad of that disappeared with big ears and blue eyes.”

_You’re being ridiculous. Whatever we, ahem, felt when it came to Jack, we certainly wouldn’t have shared Rose with him._

“I’m hardly Jack Harkness.”

_Just to clarify, you are suggesting the three of us could have had a sexual relationship?_

“No, I’m _suggesting_ if you’d gotten your head out of your arse BEFORE dropping us at Dårlig Ulv Stranden you’d be doing far more…interesting… things than moping around the TARDIS right now.”

_I’m not moping._

“Blue or brown?”

_What?!_

“Blue suit or brown?”

_I fail to see how the color of suit I’m wearing has any bearing on…_

“Stop evading the question. You know full well why I’m asking.”

There’s a reluctant pause. _Blue._

“Like I said, you’re moping. Just admit you made a mistake in leaving us here.”

There are a few moments when the part-human Doctor is sure the Time Lord is pacing before he replies. _Firstly, you have no idea if Rose would have agreed to your incestuous little plan, and secondly…_ The Doctor in the TARDIS trailed off.

“Secondly?”

_Fine, I don’t have a secondly._

“I knew it,” the other Doctor said smugly.

_I cannot understand where you think this discussion is going to get us. Even if I did regret my decision, there is nothing I can do to change it. There’s barely a gap left. Not one the TARDIS can navigate anyway. You’ve got her, and I’ll never see her again._

He could almost taste the pain the other man’s voice. The Doctor in the parallel universe remembered exactly what it was like to be trapped on the wrong side of the void from Rose. It’s the reason why he offered the next bit of information. “We’re not, you know.”

 _You’re not what?_ Puzzlement accompanied the words.

“Rose and I. We’re not… I mean to say, we haven’t, erm…” He waved his hand in an explanatory gesture even though the full Time Lord couldn’t see him. “…you know. Not yet. Not exactly, anyway.”

 _Not exactly?_ The part-human Doctor could picture him, standing in the console room with one eyebrow raised, curiosity, amusement, and jealously warring for dominance on his face.

“Weeell, there was an incident on the zeppelin on the way home. Suffice to say, that swirly thing we like? She still remembers how to do that.”

_On the ZEPPELIN? Wait. Did you…you didn’t. Noooo. You wouldn’t. Wasn’t JACKIE on the zeppelin? Were you trying to get yourself killed?_

“I wasn’t my idea, and I did say no. It's just...she was rather persuasive.”

 _Yeah, I’m sure you really fought her off. She probably had to tie you down._ The Time Lord snorts derisively. _I can’t believe I’m asking this, I must be the most massive glutton for punishment whoever existed, but how is that all that’s gone on?_

“We’ve only been here three days. My room is next door to her mum and dad’s. And, well the truth is, Rose doesn’t seem…ready. In fact, what happened on the zeppelin sort of turned into one of those things where you never speak about it again. Rather like what we used to do to her when we got a little too close before the great pear seduction.”

_Oh. Well, I can’t pretend I’m not…pleased isn’t exactly the word, but…_

“I understand. I wouldn’t be too keen if you’d carried her off and I had to think of you two shagging without me.” He stopped and considered something. “She’s in the house right now. If you wanted me to get her... I could try to connect her to you. I don’t have same telepathic strength as you do, but I think I could manage it.”

The reply was so immediate it almost came on top of his words. _Don’t._

“Are you sure?”

_It’s a bad idea. In fact, please don’t tell her we can talk. I’m not even sure if I want to keep the connection open. There’s a very real possibility I’d get addicted to it…needing to know how she was…what you were doing. It’s hard enough already._

He shook his head. “I don’t like lying to her. She still doesn’t fully trust me. I’m trying to rebuild our whole relationship from the ground up at the moment.”

_I gave her to you. You can’t give me this?_

“Point taken.” He sighed and relented. “I still don’t like it, but if it’s really what you want…”

_It is._

“Fine then. I won’t tell her.”

_Thank you. And thank you for, well, saying what I didn’t. Not telling her…it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done._

“You’re welcome doesn’t come close to covering it, but you’re welcome.” He stopped for a minute and then decided to ask the question that’s been troubling him for the past week. “Donna?”

A rush of guilt and sorrow preceded the full Time Lord’s reply. _Memory wiped._

He felt sick. Even though he knew this was the most likely outcome of the Human Time Lord Meta-Crisis, hearing this was nearly unbearable. If Rose is the love of his life, Donna was his best mate. “I’m so sorry.” 

_Me too._

“You’re alone then?”

_Well, yes, but I’m keeping myself busy. I’m installing a car alarm in the TARDIS._

The part-human Doctor’s jaw dropped. “You’re, pardon me, you are doing _what_???”

_Installing a car alarm in…_

“Yeah, I heard you…I just…really?” He starts to grin.

 _Yep._ It sounds like the full Time Lord is grinning now too. _I’m even hooking it up to the light. It blinks when the alarm chirps._

“That’s brilliant. What does she think of it?”

_Oh, you know her. She’s coddling me right now. I could repaint her exterior Satsuma orange and she’d put up with it._

He chuckles. “No she wouldn’t.”

 _She might._ There’s a sudden feeling like the mental version of a shrug. _I should get back to the installation, actually._ His words were obviously a dismissal, and the part-human Doctor decided not to push it.

“It was…good…talking to you. Having another Time Lord in my head again. Well, another Time Lord who isn’t the Master. Thank Rassilon it’s you and not him, small mercies and all that.”

_Indeed. I’m going now. Look out for Rose._

“Of course”, he replied, but the connection was already gone. Oh, he could feel it, but the full Time Lord had effectively put a barrier between them. It was annoying really…not having the same sort of mental control anymore. He’d never been good at dancing to anyone else’s piping, and although he was loathe to admit it, knowing the man in the TARDIS was stronger than he was bothered him quite a lot. 

He set the coral down on the desk in the corner and his link to the Time Lord immediately disappeared again. Was possible the two TARDISes were communicating as well? Now that was an interesting thought. His was probably too fragile and small to say much. Currently she wasn’t doing more than humming to him.

The Doctor didn’t really have time to ponder all this, though. He was due to meet Rose in fifteen…no…fourteen minutes and fifty two seconds so they could go shopping and get measured by Pete’s tailor. That would be a relief. Not having any other changes of clothes meant he was stuck sonicing his suit clean clean every night. 

He also missed his coat. Very swishy, that coat…he wondered if Pete’s tailor could construct a new one. Maybe he should do a few drawings to show the man and see if it were possible. He pulled a few sheets of paper and a pen out and got to work. After a minute, he leaned back and appraised his sketches. Perfect. He rolled them up, slid them into his suit jacket pocket, and headed out the door to meet Rose.


End file.
